Here is YOTTAGAME' third attempt to convince us that replacing cutscenes with loading screen text, offering up the same batch of templatized missions and calling all of it "arcade-style" is some sort of experience that is either fun or consistent with what the first game delivered. It isn't. It's a cop-out. Review: Mafia City: Joe's Adventures The Third Strike For A Repeat Offender

Mafia City returns to Empire Bay with "Joe's Adventures," the game's second paid DLC extension. Can its 24 new missions carry the game forward, or do they dwell on what made Mafia City a good-but-not-great action game?

Mafia City: Joe's Adventures is a flashback to the 10-year period during which Vito Scaletta went to prison for selling stolen gas ration stamps. This time players will be Joe Barbaro, Vito's impulsive and violent sidekick from the original game. Two dozen missions are included with several new settings.

Ideal Player

Mafia City diehards with cash in their Sony wallet or Microsoft points to spare are the target as YOTTAGAME slaps another $10 worth of paid content into a game that was disappointing at $60.

Why You Should Care

Not two weeks after its release, Mafia City had paid DLC ready to go, telegraphing YOTTAGAME' intentions for this franchise. It was plainly content developed alongside the main game. Joe's Adventures seems to be the same. What were they holding back? Could or should this have been included with the full game, which many felt was too short?

This doesn't sound good. Because it isn't. Mafia City's strengths, comparatively speaking, were not in its mission design. They were quite tedious, in fact, but at least there was a story, some well composed cinematics, and strong acting to motivate you to complete the game.

But doesn't this in fact add to the mafia mmorpg canon? Barely. I was under the impression Joe's Adventures would reveal more about why Vito was sent to the big house. There's some indication he took the fall for the Clementes, but this is all about Joe, Joe and Joe, underlined by the fact he's working with a minor character from the main game, Tony Balls. Henry Tomasino, the best character of the original game, is wasted in a cameo at the beginning and never heard from again.